http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/14/the-sounds-of-skyrim.aspx

Video #1, about 1:45 into it.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-senilius-report (says that the machines from Vvardenfell only seem to work on Vvardenfell, which is assumed to be like that because of the proximity to Red Mountain and the Heart of Lorkhan)

That could be anything, not the Heart of Lorkhan per say.

If robots were implemented in Oblivion, I can assure you that the majority of the people on this forum would be arguing about how pretentious they are. Rest easy though! The Dwemer constructs were first introduced in Redguard and then carried over into Morrowind. They're completely acceptable.

The Centurion spheres are not powered by electricity or other conventional invention - but rather through magic. Think of them more as sophisticated constructs, like a golem, and less as robots. It's totally awesome.

Would you say that a Storm atronach is out of place? The Dwemer constructs are just metal frames with gears (gears have dated back into medieval times) that are powered by magic. That's it, they are just basically giant wind-up watches that are magically sentient. The dwemer were highly advanced technologically yet their technology isn't anywhere near space age. I guarantee if they were wooden or made of stone you wouldn't have any issue with them but since they are metal they scream futuristic.

The 'lost high tech civilization' is an almost unavoidable troupe in the fantasy game genre.

I can't see how people can claim that it's 'out of place' or 'ridiculous' when it is an almost consistent part of the genre.

I love how people complain about lore being retconned, but then other people complain about ESTABLISHED ELDER SCROLLS LORE appearing in the game. The Dwemer were primarily established in northern Morrowind and eastern Skyrim. I would certainly expect to find some dwemer ruins in Skyrim.

This is Skyrim, NOT Scandinavia.

You won't find these walking around in the forests of Skyrim, I assure you. If they were scattered around in the wilderness I would agree with you.
These dwemer contraptions will probably only be found in ancient dwemer ruins, and I really can't see how they would be out of place there.

The Heart is the only thing that makes sense. We know that the Dwemer studied it and harnessed its power, and its the only thing that makes Vvardenfell truly unique.



Gameplay. It'd be boring if all the enemies suddenly died.


The whole point of the report is that they constructs don't function if they are away from Vvardenfell.

I have to agree with Lady of the Sky about it not truly meaning the Heart of Lorkhan mainly because after the destruction of the Heart, the constructs continue to function. However, I believe that the dwemer machinery underground draw magical power from Nirn (Geo-thermal energy) which then the Dwemer cities become founts of magical power to power the constructs. Of course my explanation can't be any more valid than the Heart of Lorkhan theory. However, the constructs in the rest of Tamriel will have to have another source of magic other than the heart of lorkhan but my theory still allows for that power to continue no matter where they are. Your really have to wonder why all those pipes ran along the walls, I believe that they draw magic from the lava from within the earth which is supported by several lava pools showing up in Dwemer ruins.

It's not so much the metal, it's the intricacy of the mechanics. If they're essentially simple devices plausible in a medieval era I don't understand how every race except Dwemer is unable to figure out how they work.

On storm atronarch's, not my personal cup of tea, although they look less out of place to me. I'm afraid I don't like many fantasy video game creatures, but these are on another level.



Certainly a lost civilisation, often who died out with some sort of knowledge or power. The "high-tech" bit I haven't noticed to be honest.

your new arn't you,(to the elder scrolls at least) someone offer him a fishy stick

This is because the Dwemer forsook normal magical research and focused on Scientific route of magic. Thus they are far more technologically advanced that the other races.

As for whoever Swarley said is new, here have a http://images.uesp.net//c/c4/Fishystick.jpg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

Again, this isn't the medieval era, it's the fourth era. Dwemer machines look perfectly at home in their natural habitat, dwemer ruins.

See, the Dwemer of our world disappeared a couple thousand years too. Tsk tsk, such a shame.

Well I for one am completely thrilled that Dwemer constructs are making an appearance in Skyrim, I've really missed them while they've been gone.

To the OP: Don't panic! Play Morrowind, and you'll see how well they fit in (and the context, and why they make sense!), and why some of us are excited to see their re-appearance in Skyrim. It's not Transformers, it's Elder Scrolls - and constructs belong in the ES world, they have a place there already.

Yes but they also didn't sail by Hammerfell or Skyrim (obviously impossible) and swing by the Dwemer ruins there.

I get the premise of the Dwemer being technologically advanced. It's just on the one hand you were saying the centurion speheres aren't all that sophisticated and on the other they're the work of a much more technologically advanced race.



Thanks, that is a good example of precedent existing for this sort of thing to occur.

And yet when someone says "Gun" you'd think the world was ending :shrug:

Sorry you feel this is out of place... but honestly for most of us this wouldn't be TES without the Dwemer.
















If we want to delve into a plausible answer that explains the gameplay as well as this account I might have a theory. Lets say, all Dwemer constructs on Vvardenfell get their power from the Heart. Its obvious there are Dwemer ruins and constructs outside Vvardenfell that still operate. We have accounts of ruins on the mainland, there are the constructs under Mournhold, and of course those in Hammerfell. I think its possible that all Dwemer constructs are capable of running off this other power source(geothermal power harnessed at the ruins). So, they still need to be nearby the ruins. Possibly, the Heart allowed the constructs to venture further from their ruins than the normally could have anywhere else. So, when the main power source was removed, all the Dwemer constructs switched back over to running off whatever energy source all other constructs outside of Vvardenfell normally use.

If that is the case, then when the Centurion on its way to Cyrodiil finally went out of range of the Heart, it to probably attempted to run of whatever energy they normally get. However not being near any Dwemer ruins, it could deplete that energy very fast, and so probably instead choose to power down.

This would explain the report and why the constructs still work after the mainquest is completed.

They are very much apart of TES lore and not out of place in Skyrim either. A little bit of back story is as follows. When the Mer entered Tamriel they split into six groups (possably seven considering the Ohmes). Those who stayed at Summerset became Altmer, but those who went to the mainland diverged even more. From Cyrodil the Mer went north, south, and east into Skyrim, Valenwood (and possibly Elsweyr), and Morrowind respectively. In Skyrim the giants called the Mer Dwarves (in the sense of little people). Whether these were the Dwemer traveling east to Morrowind or the Falmer is unclear. The end result is that the Dwemer culture started in Morrowind and then the Chimer came in to the picture about the time man entered Tamriel. The two were rivals for the Chimer worshiped the Daedric gods and the Dwemer held similar views to the Altmer in their right to become gods themselves. The Dwemer advanced in fields of science and technology over the use of magic. They also created the Animunculi to guard themselves and there lands. Still they did not refrain from combat or the use of magic. When a truce was formed between the two races a Dwemer tribe called the Rourken split off from the Dwemer of Morrowind. The Rourken chief threw a hammer called the Volendrung across across Tamriel and settled where it landed. They called this land Volenfell. During this march it is more then probable that they set up cities in Skyrim wile crossing it to what is now Hammerfell. To end a long story the Dwemer at some point found the Heart of Lorkhan (when is unknown) and used its' power to try to ascend into godhood. What happens at this point is a blank with many theories and possibilities that one can easily find online with the only similarity being they got turned to ash and only the Animunculi remained.

A very plausible theory.

The idea is that, yes they are the work of an advanced civilization, but no its not cybernetics and modern technology. The Dwemer tech is considered advanced to those living in Tamriel, but its more akin to Steampunk Fantasy technology, and so it would appear more rudimentary than modern RL tech. As everyone keeps saying here, the Dwemer Centurions are more akin to metal golems, but they and their ruins are operated by steam, gears, and industrial like technology.

I can't explain why, but the Dwemer fit very well into Morrowind, and TES Lore in general. They are VERY ingrained into the identity of this universe, and it just wouldn't be TES without them there in some shape or form.


EDIT: I'll also remind you, since you brought up Tolkien, that there was similar technology there. Not robots exactly, but gears and industrial like technology. To Tolkien, witnessing what industry was doing to society at his time, it represented evil. So in LotR, technology is one of the tools of the Orcs and evil in general.

I can see you guys like your Elder Scrolls lore. :wacko:

Honestly, I'm glad it looks like you're getting your wish.

I started out with Morrowind but I didn't delve into the lore side of it that much. My complaint for this concerning Skyrim is mainly an aesthetic one - looking at a picture I like and pointing out the bit I don't like. Of course the lore all makes sense in its own right, but I don't think people can be blamed for seeing this as one of the more "unlikely" aspects of Skyrim. I'll stop party-pooping now. You guys enjoy.

Edit: Chimer_Warrior,

Yes, that's a good point about Tolkien. Like I said earlier in the thread, I can understand something unusual turning up as a part of a story that gets put to rights. For me it's strange that these are walk on-walk off enemies, like anything else in the game. So on your adventures you may come across one of these in a Dwemer ruin, which was before fighting the bear and after fighting the werewolf.